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- R. s. WARING. REPAIRING DEFECTS IN THE GONDUOTOES 0P LEAD CABLES. No. 294,549. Patented '1Vl'a1n4, 1884.

Unrrnn States Patent trier.

RICHARD S. VARING, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

REPAIRING DEFECTS lN THE CONDUC'TORS or LEAD CABLES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 294,549, dated March 4, 1884.

Application filed October 24, 1883.

T0 aZZ whom, it may coll corn..-

Be it known that I, RICHARD S. WARING, a citizen of the United States, residing at Pittsburg, county of Allegheny, State of Pennsylvania, have invented or discovered a new and useful Improvement in Repairing Defects in the Conductors of Lead Cables; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full clear, eoncise, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in whichlike letters indicating like parts- Figure 1 is a side'elevation of one form of my ribbed cable, showing at the left one of the ribs cut away to expose one of the insulated couductors, and at the right the exposed conductor as severed, the severed ends bent up and partially denuded oftheir insulatingcovering. Fig. 2is a side elevation of my coupling-spiral. Fig. 3 is aview similar to Fig. 1, showing atthe left one of the denuded and turned-up ends provided with the spiral coupling, and at the right both of the denuded ends of the conductor as bent down and slippedinto the spiral coupling.

Fig. 4 shows the joint formed at the right of Fig. 3 thoroughly coated with solder. Fig. 5 shows at the left the joint as formed in Figs. 3 and at covered with insulating material, and thelead covering-flap secured at one end over the cut-away portion of the cable, and at the right the flap is shown as soldered down in place, covering the'joint between the ends of the conductor. Fig. 6 shows the edges of the flap as thoroughly covered and secured by a wipe-joint. Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a flap.

My invention is designed to provide-for access to the various wires composing a cable,

formed by passing the electrical conductors through separate passages formedin a lead bar or rod in the process of manufacturing it, and for repairing or correcting any breaks or faults which may occur in any of the said conductors; and, in general terms, my invention consists in the method and construction all as more fully hereinafter described and claimed.

Usually heretofore in laying underground conductors it has been customary to arrange the conductors in passages formed in a box or frame, which at every three or four hundred feet is interrupted oropens into what is termed a testing-box, and it has been necessary, in

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order to repair any breaks or fault-s occurring between any two testing-boxes, to draw out the conductor between said boxes until the fault or break is found, and after repairing said fault for ocean and other cables it is usually necessary to entirely sever or cut out a piece of the cable, and then either join the several ends or splice in a piece of cable, and during this operation all the conductors in said cable are ren dered useless, although the break or fault may occur in only one of them. The above and other objections, however, are obviated in the use of my cable, and any faults or breaks can be repaired without either withdrawing any part of the injured conductor from its shield or covering or interrupting the use of the other conductors while the injured conductor is being repaired.

I will now describe the manner in which I propose to repair any one or more conductors of my improved cable in which a fault or break has occurred. The position of the fault or break in any one of the conductors having been located by any of the well-known means, the lead .wall or covering of that conductor is cut away at the point of break, as shown at a, Fig. 1, thus exposing the conductor at that point. The conductor is then severed, and, if necessary, the injured part of the conductoris then cut out, and the insulation of the protruding ends of the conductor is then removed for some distance back alongthe conductor, as shown at b, Fig. 1. After the exposed ends of the conductor have been cleaned to obtain a bright surface, they are slipped into the coupling 0, Fig. 2, which is formedof a piece of coiled wire; but any other suitable coupling may be used. The coupling and the ends of the 0011- ductor therein are then firmly united together by solder, as shown at the right of Fig. 3, and the whole joint thoroughly coated with solder, as shown at Fig. 4.. After the joint has been thoroughly coated with solder, as above stated, it is wrapped with some insulating material, as shown at cl, Fig. 5, the insulating material covering not only the joint, but the ends of the conductor which were previously exposed.

The joint having been carefully formed and all the exposed parts completely covered, all as above stated, a flap or cover, is secured at one end. of the recess a by a piece of metal, f, as shown at the left of Fig. 5. The flap c is then bent down to its place, and is soldered to the edges of the recess a, as shown at the right of Fig. 5. After being so secured the joints between the llap and the edges of the recess are wiped over with solder, as at y in Fig. 6.

It will be seen that the whole of the abox c operation of opening the cable and repairing one of the wires can be effected without disturbing or interrupting the use of the other wires comprising the cable.

It frequently happens that theloeation of the fault or break cannot be exactly found, and that the conductor will have to be uncovered and severed in order to make another test to more nearly locate the break or fault, and I consider it within the spirit of my invention to perform the steps hereinbefore described 'for the purpose of making athlitional tests to locate breaks or faults.

hat I claim herein as my invention is 1. The method herein described,whieh con sists in uncovering one of the conductors of a lead-covered electric cable having two or more conductors inclosed in separate passages in the lead covering, severing the conductor, electrically uniting the severed ends, covering said union with insulating material, and recovering the union with lead, substantially as set forth.

2. The method herein described of repairing the conductors of a lead-covered electric cable having two or more conductors inclosed in separate passages in thclcad ('overingmhich consists in uncovering one of said conduct ors, removing the defective part of said conductor, electrically uniting the severed ends of said conductor, covering said union with insulatin g material, and re-covering the union and exposed parts of the conductor withlead, substantially as set forth.

The method herein described of repairing the conductors of a lead-covered electric cable having two or more conductors inclosed in separate passages in thclcad covering, which consists in removing the lead covering from around one of said conductors, removing the defective part of the conductor, electrically uniting the severed ends by any suitable coupling, covering said coupling and exposed parts ot'thc conductor with insulating material, re-covering the insulated coupling and conductor with a piece of lead, and soldering said piece of lead to the body of the cable, sub stantially as set forth.

t. In a lead-covered electric cable lnrving two or more conductors inclosed in separate passages in the lead covering, one of whose conductors is so severed that the several ends will not meet, the combination of the spiral. coupling 0, in which the severed ends of the conductor are soldered, the insulating-coven ing (1, and the flap 0, securely soldered over the coupling, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I havehereunto set my hand.

RICHARD S. YVARIXG.

\Vitnesses:

DARWIN S. Wo'Lco'r'r, 1'. l1. lVnrr'rLnsEY. 

